Microsoft Excel Question

[catnapper]

I'm a novice at Excel but am getting better. I want to use it as a timecard -- So far I have it where I enter all the hours for one project during one buisiness day, then additional hours the next and it'll tabulate all the hours.

But what I want to know is this: Is there a way where I can type in that I started something at 9:45 and finished at 10:15, and have it autmaticically compute that I spent .5 an hour, or do I just have to manually type in another cell that I spent .5 an hour?

Right now I have something similar to this:
Start time----Finish time----total time
9:45----------10:15----------.5
(The dashes are just to help keep everything aligned since the forum won't let me simply use spaces)

All that data is hand entered into individual cells, and the 'total time' column has a total line underneath where a formula adds up all the 'total time' numbers. Can I make the 'total time' cell also do the math to come up with how much time is spent between 'start time' and 'finish time' so I don't have to manually add it? I made a big boo-boo last week that cost me some money because I made a typo :o

The math between 3:15 and 7:30 should be easy enough but I've been making small mistakes that cost me fifteen minutes here and there.... and it does add up over time.

Does anybody understand what I'm trying todo? Help?

[emily_the_spoiled]

You can put a formula in the "total time" cell. It would be something like this:

If the start time for Task 1 on March 17 is in cell D7 and the finish time is in cell E7, then the formula would be "=e7-d7" . This will automatically calculate the amount of time spent on Task 1 on March 17.

Then you can just use "edit, fill down" to copy the formula into the remaining cells.

I hope this answers your question...

[catnapper]

I tried entering the formula like that and got an error message.

Here's a screen shot of whats up currently.... do I have it set upo wrong? Using the cells I have up there, how do I do it?

[Edwina's Secretary]

It would be easier if you enter your time in different increments. For example...10:15 becomes 10.25....10:30 is 10.5.

You are mixing hours and minutes the way you have it right now.

You could get fancy and divide by 60, etc. but that is the easiest way.

I'm not a wake yet....one more edit...that is why attorneys and the like bill in 6 minute increments....1/10th of an hour....

[Lady's Human]

okay, here goes:

Step one:

Highlight the cells, right click, and hit "format cells"

Select type, and from the list select time. It will give you a number of time formats. The easiest ones to work with for time clock functions are 24 hour times, but it's up to you.

if A1 is your start time, and B1 is your end time, then c1 will be =b1-a1.

to total the times in column C, at the bottom type in =SUM(C2:C10), and it will total your time in hours and minutes.

[king2005]

for the formula I'm pretty sure you have to have it like this

=SUM(D7-E7)
or
=SUM(D7+E7)

if you don't understnad what D7-E7 means, then do this...

In the cell that the answer is suppose to be type =SUM then click on the 3:15 cell.. You'll see something like =SUM(D7 show up in the answer cell.. then type either a - or a + into the answer cell... Then click onto the 7:30 cell... You'll then see something like this =SUM(D7+E7) in your answer cell.. it should auto do the math for you after that..

BUT I also recommend you change the way you input your hours 7:30 = 7.50 & 3:15 = 3.25 Its the BEST way to get the proper answer :)

Hope by breaking it down a little helped.

I did this for my dad last summer & it was a life saver for him, as it auto did all the math.

If you still cannot get it to work... can you send me a copy (remove/change any personal data) & I'll input the math & you can see how I did it just by looking at it :)

[catnapper]

Ok I did what LH suggested and instead of .75 hour it calculated 1.05 :confused:

Am I just a complete moron (please don't answer that! ;) )

ES, I never thought of billing in 6 minute increments, oh my client would love that! she thinks I'm taking her to the bank on the 15 minute policy :rolleyes:

[Edwina's Secretary]

So do it in 15 minutes....1/4th of an hour. Use .25, .5, .75 etc.

[catnapper]

Ok, now I am really just confused! I tried to change it to 12.15 and 1.00 and it made the 12.15 to 3:30AM :confused:

SO from now on, instead of 12:15 I should write in 12.25 to mean the same thing? Won't that be confusing? Ooo... and now I'd have to type in 13.00 for 1:00, right?

Now I really do feel like a moron! Considering how much trouble I can see me having typing in time on the 24 hour format and using decimals instead of the time, I might be better off sticking to manually entering info - I'll enter in just as many typos trying to convert to 24 hours and decimal :o

[Lady's Human]

Catnapper, It would probably be easier for me to build what you want than to try to explain it via a forum. No, you're not stupid, it's Microsquash's programmers who make things hard for normal people.

[king2005]

Catnapper, It would probably be easier for me to build what you want than to try to explain it via a forum. No, you're not stupid, it's Microsquash's programmers who make things hard for normal people.


hmmm I always thought it was Microcrap :D

[pnance]

You don't actually have to convert to military time, excel will do it for you if you have the correct format, just make sure the format is set for time and chose the option 24 hour time (ex: 13:30). When you enter your time the catch is you can't just enter numbers you'll have to enter AM or PM for it to change the time to the correct one. (Ex: enter 1:45 PM excel changes it to 13:45) Make sure your calculation cell (c) is also formatted for time.

[Randi]

Kim, if you're a moron about Excel, so am I!! :o I just don't get it either. :rolleyes:

Many years ago when I went to Spain, my teacher made this conversion sheet for me - at the time, 100 pesetas was 4,65 DKR.

Now, I'd like to use this sheet for other currencies - like US Dollars. ;) I'm just not sure what to type in where.

If 1 DKR = 0,1634 US Dollars what do I type in, in cell A1?

I'll attach two images of the sheet. In the second one, I clicked to get the formula visible. ;)

Can anyone help?